Chapter 1
It’s Friday night, and we are eating at Anthony’s. I love this place because they have the best food. While I scroll on my cell, I order my favorite pizza: feta cheese, pineapples, and banana peppers.
I can’t wait to get home and climb into bed.
“Lux, are you excited for your big eighteenth birthday?” Dad asks with a smile on his face.
“Of course, I am.” The smile on my face grows by the minute.
“Why is that, darling?” Mom asks me.
“I get a car, duh.” We all start laughing. I love hearing them laugh.
“Okay, okay. Are you almost ready to head home?” Mom asks, finishing up her pizza.
“Yeah. I’m full and ready to sleep. I’ll just ask for a box. So I can have a snack later.”
“You and your snacks.” Mom laughs as she shakes her head.
“Lux, you got any plans this weekend?” Dad asks.
“I was planning on going to the mall tomorrow.”
“Hmm. I need to head out of town. So make sure you stay in contact with your mother.” He says it with a stern look.
“Okay.” Packing away my extra slices into the white foam container.
We pull into the driveway of our house, step out of the car, and head toward the front door. I put the food away, say good night to Mom and Dad, and go to my room. After a quick shower, I climb into my big, comfy bed and drift off to sleep.
Why is it so cold in here? Did mom forget to adjust the temperature again?
Removing the blankets, I rise from bed and head to the door. I check the temperature. It”s set at seventy-four degrees. Why is it so cold in here?
I turn it up to seventy-eight and head back towards my room. Right before I walk into my room, I hear a crash. I stand, listening for a few minutes. A strange voice catches my attention.
“Kill them all. I’ll make an example of him for trying to fuck me over.”
Whoever the voice is coming from sounds sick, like his nose is clogged.
What the fuck! Mom and Dad’s room is at the other end of the hallway, and there’s no way I can get to them.
Rushing into my room, closing my door quietly, and locking it. I grab my cell phone and head over to the wall of mirrors that hides my safe room. I dial my dad’s number. He always answers his phone.
It just rings and rings; fuck, he’s not picking up! I slide my hand along the mirror, finding the button I need as I dial my dad’s cell again—still nothing. What am I going to do?
Then I hear a shrill scream.
Mom? Please don’t let that be her; please don’t hurt her. Fuck!
By pushing the button, the door opens. Stepping in and locking it behind me, I hit the silent alarm switch on the wall. Please let them get here quickly.
I was walking over to the TV, turning it on, and impatiently waiting for the cameras to come up on the display. I quickly searched the live feed for my parents. Of course, I don’t have access to their room. Dad said it would be an invasion of their privacy. I feel my heart rate pick up as sweat drips down my forehead. Where are they? Then I see my mom running down the hall towards my room. Fuck, I locked the door! Before she can reach my door, she is snatched by her hair and held against a masked figure. He places a knife in her throat. Please, no! Please, God, don’t let him hurt my mom!
“Please don’t hurt my daughter!” she screams at him. “Please! She’s innocent. You can do anything to me, except for her!”
“That’s not up to you now, is it, Sarai?” comes the voice of another masked person walking towards them.
How many are there? What’s taking the police so long? Where is my dad?
“Tomas! Tomas!” she screams.
“He’s not coming. He currently cannot speak with all the gagging on dick he’s doing,” the man chuckles.
Now, let”s go see your daughter. Maybe I can make her gag like her daddy,” he says, both men laughing. My mom cries harder.
“Please no. Please leave her alone,” she says. “Lux! Hide!” she screams.
The man slaps my mom across the face.
“Shut up, bitch, or I’ll slide my dick in your ass as she watches,” he says, pressing the knife deeper into her throat. I see a sliver of crimson on her neck. Please, please, please, don’t hurt her. Tears stream down my face as I watch through the cameras.
They stop outside my bedroom door, and I can see him trying to turn the handle.
”Oh, she must be awake. She locked the door.” He says this as he lifts his foot and kicks in the door. “That won’t keep us out.” They walk in, and look around my room, searching for where I am “Where is she?” he asks, turning to look at my mom.
She says nothing, causing him to smack her again. “Where is she?” he growls in her face, spittle flying from his lips.
She still says nothing. “You don’t want to talk now, I see. Well, get on your knees, bitch.”
My mom just stands there. He smacks her again. “I said. ON. YOUR. FUCKING. KNEES!”
Seeing the blood on her face made tears fall from my eyes. They can’t hear or see me. Mom made sure my safe room was soundproof.
She gazes at the camera, which is known only to us. “I love you, Lux. Close your eyes.”
The guys look around, confused.
“So she is in here. Come out, come out wherever you are,” he says with a sinister smile on his face.
I don’t move my eyes from the screen. I need to know that she’ll be okay.
“If you don’t come out, you will watch the life drain from her eyes,” he says.
I still haven”t come out. I was always told that no matter what happened, I should keep myself safe?—following the instructions of my mother. I hid, pushed the silent alarm, and waited.
Speaking of the alarm, where the fuck is the help?
I dialed 911.
“Hello, 911. How can I help you?”
“Yes, my family is being attacked.”
“Can you tell me your address?”
“Yes, it’s 746 Stanley Lane.” What the fuck! The line went dead!
“Hello? Hello?” I pull my phone away and look down at it. No signal. How is that even possible?
”Well, she won’t be able to call for any help. I jammed the signal.” It comes from another masked man walking into my room, covered in blood.
“You finished already?” says the one I’m now assuming is the boss.
“Not at all. I came to see how things were going here. The fucker passed out after the fourth time I rammed my cock in his ass,” the tall man says with a chuckle.
What the fuck! Did he rape my dad?
”Where is the kid?” he asks.
“We don’t know, and this cunt won’t tell us. We know she”s here somewhere,” the one with the knife says, pointing to the corner where my mom glanced and spoke to me.
”Interesting,” says the tall man as he runs his fingers over his face. “She might not actually be here,” he says.
“What makes you say that?” the boss asks.
”Because that”s a camera, and it”s currently recording,” the tall man says, pointing up at it.
“An audience. Well then, let’s give one hell of a performance.” The man with the knife laughs.
I watch in horror as they slice my mother’s clothing from her body, leaving her naked. They force her onto the bed and hold her down. I watch as the first man gets between her legs and unzips his pants. I can’t watch this. I’m going to be sick. I turn away just as I hear my mom’s blood-curdling scream.
I can feel ringing in my ears as my heart races fast; I can feel the wetness running down my face, and I can’t breathe. It feels like all the oxygen is being sucked from the room and my lungs. I feel the burning coming up from my throat. The burning is rushing higher and higher until I’m throwing up. My stomach is doing somersaults, and my head feels like it”s going to explode. I stay on the ground with my hands over my ears, keeping my eyes shut so tightly that it hurts. I’m not sure how long I will stay like that. Then I heard him.
“Slice her fucking throat. Let’s end this so I can get home to my wife.”
I look up in time to see the man holding my mom against him. He slides his right hand across my mom’s neck, and I see her reaching for her throat. They walk out, laughing as they leave her there on my bed, naked, bloody, and bruised.
Just before their return, I reach for the switch to open the door, but stop when I see them entering. One man has my dad over his shoulder before he throws him on the bed next to my mom. His head moves to gaze at her.
“You piece of shit!!” my dad screams. “What have you done?”
“We told you what would happen if you fucked with us. You thought you could fuck us out of the deal.” The voice of the boss speaks.
“You won’t get away with this!” my dad responds.
“We already have. You should be happy your daughter wasn’t here, or you would watch us rip her apart,” the man with the knife threatens.
“Don’t worry, we made a movie for her to watch on the camera you installed,.” he grins.
“Now let’s leave our grand finale and get out of here.” The man who I assume is the leader.
The taller man of the three bends my dad over, unzips his pants, and shoves into him brutally. Then I hear the bang. Looking back up, I see my dad lying motionless. Blood sprays the walls, my bed, and my mother”s dying body.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” the boss says, before turning towards the camera.
“I know you”re in this house somewhere. If you weren’t home, your door wouldn’t have been locked. Make no mistake; I will find you. I”ll eliminate this bloodline completely. You can count on it.” He spits into the lens and turns, walking away without saying anything more. Just as he reaches the door, he takes one final turn and looks back in the direction of the camera.
“Be careful who you trust. Why do you think the alarm didn’t work?” he says, chuckling.
I watch the cameras as they leave out of the front door and down the driveway. Just then, my phone rings.
“Hello, this is the dispatcher. Is everything okay?”
I don’t respond. Watching the men enter their cars, then drive off. I push the button to open the door, and I walk out. I walked over to my bed, covering both my parents. I sit there as tears stream down my face. I am vowing that I will seek vengeance as I hold both of my parents” hands until I see the red and blue lights. I kiss both of my parents goodbye as the cops walk in, guns drawn and aimed.
“Are they still in the house?” the officer asks.
“Until the next,” I whisper. I made a silent vow to my parents that I would see them in my next life.
I turn towards the officers, look at them, and shake my head. They lower their guns and come over to me. They reach for me, and I jump back. The officer backs away slowly.
“Let me get you out of here. The paramedics need to check on you. You also don’t need to see this,” he says.
Observing his gradual approach, carefully tracking every move. The masked man’s words come back to me: “Be careful who you trust. Why do you think the alarm didn’t work?”
I walk with the officer out of my room, down the hall, and outside. He takes me over to be checked and then places me in the backseat of his car as we wait for the social worker to arrive.
“Be careful who you trust. Why do you think the alarm didn’t work?”
It replays in my mind over and over. I vow to find them, and when I do, I’ll kill them all.
ONE. BY. ONE.